Ledaig 21 Year (1997) Ian Macleod Chieftan’s K&L Wines pick

Review by: The Muskox

This is yet another twenty-something year old bottling of Ledaig picked by California’s K&L Wines. This will be the third similarly-statted Ledaig pick from them that I’ve tried. The last couple were both very good, so I’m looking forward to trying another.

Distillery: Tobermory.

Bottler: Ian Macleod.

Region: Islands.

ABV: 59.4%, cask strength.

Age: 21 years old. Distilled in September 1997. Bottled in August 2019.

Cask type: A butt.

Color: Dark gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

Nose: Rich, briny, and loaded with medicinal peat reek. Sweet too – chocolate digestives, orange bitters, pineapple, Coke Bottle candies, a little molasses. Plenty of savoury earthy notes: sea-soaked mud, grilled seafood, mushroom tea, and olive tapenade. Tennis balls! Strangely floral somehow.

Palate: Medium-oily texture. Dirty-tropical on the arrival, with bright fragrant fruit acidicy and sea salt. An underlying sweetness of malt, allspice, apple, and lime. Heavy peat on the development, medicinal with a strange industrial tartness. Burning wet sappy wood, strong minerality, flamed fish filets, vegetal earth, cigarette ash. Inexplicably floral again.

Finish: Sweetly herbaceous and medicinal. Old rotten oak stumps, black peppercorns, and overbrewed tea. Cola, dirty strawberries, and orange peels. Sinus-opening wasabi. A hint of fireplace ash.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Rained-out music festival barbeque”

Notes: Extremely interesting and very, very good. These kinds of older darker-flavoured medicinal-peat Ledaigs don’t always hit the spot for me, but this has enough freshness and complexity that I really dig it. Those delectable lime and spice notes help to cut through that extremely heavy peat. This should more than satisfy serious Ledaig fans in their endless search for rich peaty funkfests.

Final Score: 87.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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